Different Strokes! Performing Arts Collective presents
OXALIS
Written by Travis Lowe
Directed by Stephanie Hickling Beckman
A World Premiere!
Oxalis, written by local playwright, Travis Lowe, deals both directly and metaphorically with Level 1 Bipolar Disorder. Balancing one young woman’s complicated history, and extreme bouts of mania and depression, Oxalis takes us on ferry rides between our protagonist’s frenetic life and her husband’s dark island. In this four-actor ensemble, Actors 1 & 2 represent a parade of characters who play significant roles in her journey. Oxalis raises questions relating to the nature of the diagnosis, how those who live with its effects manage it, and how they are seen and treated by the people who know and love them. This play is not intended to represent, nor should it be extrapolated to any sort of wider community of people who have been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder.
Different Strokes! non-profit community partner for this production is “A Therapist Like Me“. A Therapist Like Me brings awareness to the intersection of mental health and minority-identity: race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, language, mental health, neurotype, disability, and other intersections of identity.
Oxalis is the second play by Asheville playwright Travis Lowe to have been produced through Different Strokes’ Playwright’s resource program – UnderDevelopment.
Different Strokes! Performing Arts Collective is Company-In-Residence at the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts.
Date(s):
Venue:
18 Biltmore Ave.
Asheville, NC 28801 (map)